State championships aren’t new to the Josey Lady Eagles’ basketball program.
Now, as far as current head coach Nechelle Chapman and many of her standout players? Well, that’s a different story.
As a program, Josey has a pair of state championship trophies in its mantle — one from 1998 when the Lady Eagles won the Class AAA state crown, and the 2021 trophy in Class AA when coach Jawan Bailey was still pacing the sidelines.
But after Chapman and her Lady Eagles punched their state championship game ticket by knocking off Central-Macon in a 45-38 Class AA semifinal win in Milledgeville Saturday, the enormity and newness of the moment began to settle in — especially when you consider Josey’s bid for a third state championship ended on the same floor 12 months ago.
“They played tremendous,” Chapman said of her team’s Final Four performance. “They stepped up big time. Even though the name, the school, has been on this stage multiple times before, a lot of our babies hadn’t gotten much playing time in big games like this, so we knew we were gonna have to weather the ship with their emotions, make sure they stayed locked in and keep their eyes stayed on the prize.”
For example, the current roster features seniors like Tymiria Mack, Kayla McCord and Clairrissa Winfrey. All three were listed on Josey’s 2021 state title team roster as freshmen. They watched the Eagles knock off Fannin County 47-42, but they did so from the sidelines.
Or consider current scoring leaders, Shaniya Sanders (13 ppg) and KeAsia Henderson (12 ppg). Both were eighth graders during Josey’s last championship run. Sophomore Kerri Fluellen (12.8 ppg) who helped Josey Saturday with a big first half — including sinking a game-tying layup to erase Central’s lead just before halftime — was in the seventh grade.
Chapman, herself, was an assistant on Bailey’s staff during the last state championship journey.
That aside, Henderson says she’s anxious to watch her school potentially add to its trophy case as a participant on the court instead of a fan in the bleachers.
“I’m just so excited,” Henderson said. “I’ve never been to [a state championship game] before playing with Josey. I’ve seen it with other players, but it’s so very exciting to be going to my first one here as a player.”
Henderson also played a huge part in helping her team get to its Thursday March 7 title game against Mount Paran. Her 3-pointer at the 4-minute mark of the third quarter, one of two that she made in that period, gave Josey a 24-21 lead. Then, on the next possession in transition, Fluellen scored on a layup that extended that lead to 26-21, and Josey never trailed again.
Fluellen and Henderson’s complementary performances are something Chapman says has been par for the course for this year’s squad. Henderson scored 18 points while Fluellen helped with 16 Saturday.
“That’s pretty much how the whole season’s been going for them,” Chapman said. “When one of them can’t find the rhythm, somebody else steps up and makes some big plays.”
Henderson said she values being able to trust her younger teammate.
“Sometimes she has her games when she’s not always gonna score, and then sometimes I have those games as well,” Henderson said. “And she has me to help pick her up, and I have her to pick me up when it’s like that for me. That’s just how we play.”
Chapman also mentioned players Za’miya Jenkins, a 6-foot sophomore who averages a double-double in points and rebounds for the second-ranked Eagles, and is considered one of the state’s rising stars.
This time last year, she wasn’t even considered a role player.
“Even Za’miyah coming through a key rebounds toward the end [of Saturday’s game] was big,” Chapman said. “Last year, Miyah wasn’t even coming off the bench, and now she’s leading us in double-doubles.”
Josey’s likely going to need all of that and more Thursday against a Mount Paran squad that decimated Murray County, 72-44 in Saturday’s other Class AA semifinal.
Of Mount Paran’s three losses this season, only one has come against a school from Georgia. And that came in the second game of the season — a 55-52 overtime loss to Class AAAAAAA No. 1 Grayson, which is also the sixth-ranked team in the nation, according to MaxPreps.com.
The Eagles from Kennesaw matchup evenly with the Eagles from Augusta in every way, including height, size, length and athleticism.
Mount Paran shooters showed deft touch and range while knocking down a barrage of 3-pointers against Murray County. But Chapman feels like her team has seen enough tough competition during the regular season to not be shellshocked at whatever gets thrown at them Thursday in Macon.
“This is what we wanted to do when we tried to set the schedule,” Chapman said. “Get them out of their home atmosphere so we can go on the road, get into a couple other team’s houses to see how they live and how the crowd would affect us when we play and how we handle adversity against good teams in key moments. It’s worked out pretty well.”
When Thursday’s 1 p.m. tip off happens, it’ll be another situation where Chapman and company will have to quickly get used to being front-and-center on the big stage against a team that’s been there, done that and in search of a third straight state title.
Mount Paran took home the Class AA crown last year and won state on the Class A-Private level in 2022. But Chapman says Josey’s keys to victory start with simply believing that they can win.
“We’ll tell them they got this,” Chapman said. “Everything is in their tool kit to go out and hang with anybody. You know, I may be a little biased, but that’s just the way I feel as a coach. We just have to calm that nervousness, settle down and go out and execute.”
As for Henderson, she believes a state title is the only acceptable conclusion to a season that’s already seen the Josey Eagles exorcise some past demons.
“Last year we came up short. We lost the Final Four to Banks County,” Henderson said. “We met them again in the Elite Eight and beat them. We won the Final Four, so now we got our ticket to a state championship. We gotta go get a ring now.”
Gabriel Stovall is sports editor for The Augusta Press. He can be reached at gabriel@theaugustapress.com. Follow him on X (Twitter), Instagram and Threads: @GabrielCStovall.
